A communication system is a facility which facilitates the communication between two or more entities such as user equipment (UE), network entities and other nodes. In the cellular systems a network entity in the form of a base station provides a node for communication with user equipment in one or more cells or sectors. It is noted that in certain systems a base station is called ‘Node B’. Examples of cellular access system technologies include in order of their evolvement: GSM (Global System for Mobile) EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) Radio Access Networks (GERAN); Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Networks (UTRAN); and Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN).
Communication systems providing wireless access typically enable at least some mobility for the users thereof. Examples of these include wireless communications systems where the access is provided by means of an arrangement of cellular access networks. Other examples of wireless access technologies include different wireless local area networks (WLANs) and satellite based communication systems.
Due to the continuously growing traffic demand, mobile network operators (MNOs) are currently investigating ways of steering user traffic from the cellular to the WLAN network in order to boost the coverage and capacity of their systems. In traffic steering, some traffic may be offloaded from one network to another.
In the cellular network a user equipment (UE) may be handed over from one base station to another if it is determined that the other base station would provide better service for the user equipment (UE). This is often the case when the user equipment (UE) is moving from the coverage cell of a first base station to the coverage cell of a second base station. This handover becomes more complicated when traffic steering (such as the steering of traffic from the cellular to WLAN network) is in place.
It is the aim of the present application to take the offloading of traffic into account when carry out handover procedures.